


Sorry

by iwillmovemountains



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-02
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-04 15:01:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5338439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwillmovemountains/pseuds/iwillmovemountains
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After she was unfused from Malachite, the first thing Peridot said to Lapis was, "I'm sorry."</p>
<p>The word quickly lost its meaning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sorry

**Author's Note:**

> here, have some sad lapidot because Everything is Bad, Nothing is Good

After she was unfused from Malachite, the first thing Peridot said to Lapis was, "I'm sorry."  
  
The word quickly lost its meaning. Peridot said "sorry" like a human child who had just learned a new word and wanted to repeat it to everyone. She said "sorry" like everything in the world was her fault. She was a Crystal Gem, along with Lapis, and it wasn't as if she carried more sins than those in the war, Garnet and Pearl and Rose Quartz herself.  
  
Every accidental touch, every time they bump into each other in the beach house, and even sometimes when they don't, is followed by a "sorry," and Lapis couldn't stand it, this broken record. Finally, she blurted out, "Stop saying you're sorry!"  
  
To which Peridot replied, of course, "Sorry."  
  
They sat next to each other under the night sky, while the waves lapped at the shoreline. This close to the city, Homeworld's star was drowned out by the human's light. Peridot brushed Lapis' hand gently and pulled back, mumbling "sorry."  
  
It's fine, Lapis wants to say, it's fine. She didn't say it.  
  
"You were just the technician," she said instead. "All you did was pilot the ship I was on. What could you have possibly done differently? Tried to free me, the gem you didn't even know, and get us both killed?"  
  
"I don't know," Peridot said. "Everything on this planet is different. Humans treat each other so differently than how gems treat each other. Maybe I should've been different, too. I'm sorry."  
  
It wasn't as if it was Peridot's fault, taking her prisoner on Homeworld. She was just following orders. Homeworld gems were never given a choice. It was obedience or death. Did Peridot think she should have died?  
  
Lapis thought about it, and the waves pounded the shoreline. The tide rushed in, and Peridot huddled inward, hugging her knees to her chest.  
  
Lapis reached out and hugged her. Peridot went stiff, then pressed her head in the crook of Lapis' neck. "I'm sorry," she said.  
  
"It's okay," said Lapis. "It's okay."  
  
"Im sorry," Peridot repeated, and her voice shook with barely restrained tears. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm –"  
  
"Stop it," Lapis said. "There was nothing you could've done. We're protecting Earth together now, with Steven. You don't need to apologize any more. Aren't you doing enough?"  
  
Homeworld was going to come back with an army. They were going to strike and strike until the land crumbled and the ocean dried up and there would be nothing, nothing left. That was what would happen if the Crystal Gems didn't stop them.  
  
Another quiet "sorry" as they held each other close.  
  
It's okay, Lapis wanted to say. I forgive you.  
  
She didn't.


End file.
